ABOUT HEBAT I

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Wau organizes its technical efforts in two different branches: the Wau Makers Space and the Competition team. The Wau Makers Space will be a platform for young members to get first experiences in working in technical teams and get their fundamentals of rocket science right. The Competition team is where the experienced members get an opportunity to work on large technical teams.

HEBAT I ~ Wau's Inaugral project

The rocket project HEBAT aimed to pave the way for students to promote Malaysian Aerospace engineering excellence on a global stage. HEBAT stands for Hardwork, Experience, Believe, Achieve, Together. It was Wau's first project ever and kicked of right after the foundation of Wau. Besides the rocket, the team’s mission was also to discover and establish the framework of the association, its project processes and the funding network. As an inaugral participation, HEBAT I set a clear level of excellence for Wau.

OBJECTIVE

The objective was to fly a rocket at the 2022 Spaceport America Cup to show the world what USM is capable of in the rocketry field. The project surpassed its objectives and solidified Wau as a key player in the Malaysia student rocketry chapter. The experience gained by the team along with the network of contacts we met along the way, have helped us to come up with the development of future technical project.

EXPERIENCE

Operations in a harsh environment

The competition takes place in temperatures above 35° in a dusty and tiring surrounding. Unfortunately, the first day launch was scrubbed due to heavy rain. Preparation, procedures and safety are key.

Interacting with established and experienced rocketeers

At the cup, Wau interacted with student teams from renowned universities and experienced judges and aggregates knowledge from the best.

The world's LARGEST international university rocket engineering competition – in the desert heat of New Mexico, USA

Team HEBAT I competed at the 15th Spaceport America Cup against over 99 university teams from all across the World. Organized by the Experimental Sounding Rocket Association (ESRA) and the Spaceport America, this competition brings together over 1500 of the brightest minds in the blazing heat of New Mexico to present and launch their systems – and learn from each other.

DISCOVER MORE

From an Imagination to a
real rocket in 8 months

The full product development process

Within 8 months team HEBAT I set-up the requirements, developed the concept, designed the rocket and its software, manufactured all parts, assembled it and brought it to USA. Experts from academia gave feedback at two major half-day reviews: the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) and the Critical Design Review CDR. The entire project was mentored by our Flyer of Record.

The Rocket HEBAT I

HEBAT I targets an apogee of 10’000 feet above ground level with a commercial off-the-shelf solid motor. For recovery, a drogue parachute is released by ejecting the nose cone at apogee followed by the main parachute out of the same compartment at 900 feet above ground level.

Technical Data

Technical

Data

As payload, the rocket carried a little astronaut and nanosat that measured the atmospheric conditions of the launch site

Lift Off Weight

29.43 kg
Length

3.3 m
Diameter

0.1524 m
Motor

Aerotech M2000R
Target Apogee

10,000 ft/3048 m
Official Altitude

10,599 ft/3230.58 m

The Subsystems

Structure

The airframes, couplers,nosecones, fins and bulkhead was made from fibreglass composite. The airframes were fabricated using wet handlayup method whereas the rest were purchased off the shelf. The fins were made from G10 fibreglass panel.

RECOVERY and AVIONICS

The avionics trigger the ejection of the nosecone by pressurizing the parachute compartment with black powder. As a result, two parachutes are being ejected after each other: First, a drogue at apogee to stabilize and slow down the descent. At 900ft above ground level, the main parachute is released to reduce the descent rate to less than 9 m/s and provide a safe touch down of the rocket.

Drogue Shute Size

4.2 ft
Main Shute Size

12.5 ft
Altimeters

RRC3 and EASYMINI

PAYLOAD

The payload carried a camera, medals, a model astronaut and a Nanosat. The payload weighs about 4kg with a height of 30cm and the payload mission was to measure the atmosperic conditions of the launch site

PROPULSION

A commercial solid motor composed of Ammonium Perchlorate burns for 4s and accelerates the rocket to a maximum velocity of 300 m/s with up to 8.31g. HEBAT I was built for a reloadable Aerotech M2000R commercial off-the-shelf motor. The launch is initiated by an independent ground-based ignition system using electrical matches

FLIGHT

T-60	Rocket was at the Launchpad at MYT 11.40pm. We face an issue in activating the avionics system because one of the Avionics holes we blocked by the launch rail. We were put in a situation to take down the rocket and bringing back to the launch assembly site. But the team was determined to fly the rocket. They managed to find a small screw driver and the avionics system was activated. After putting HEBAT I in launch posiiton, the igniter had issue. Our propulsion lead, rewired the igniter and resolved the issue. The team was back to the spectator area and waited for the countdown
T-0	At 12:40am the ignition was successfully initiated, and the rocket lifted off. HEBAT I cleared the launchpad nominally. At that moment, we felt our 8 months of hardwork paid off.
T +5.6s	HEBAT I reached apogee, 10599ft and drogue parachute deployed. Due to the weight, our main parachute also deployed together with it. HEBAT began to descend gracefully.
T +13.26 minutes	HEBAT I touched down. The recovery team went to the site to recover back the rocket. We had a perfect landing and HEBATI had no structural damage and electronics were recovered safely.